A First-Order Logic Formalization of the Industrial Ontology Foundry Signature Using Basic Formal Ontology

Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) is a top-level ontology used in hundreds of active projects in scientific and other domains. BFO has been selected to serve as top-level ontology in the Industrial Ontologies Foundry (IOF), an initiative to create a suite of ontologies to support digital manufacturing on the part of representatives from a number of branches of the advanced manufacturing industries. We here present a first draft set of axioms and definitions of an IOF upper ontology descending from BFO. The axiomatization is designed to capture the meanings of terms commonly used in manufacturing and is designed to serve as starting point for the construction of the IOF ontology suite

The Riddle of Gravitation

There is no doubt that both the special and general theories of relativity capture the imagination. The anti-intuitive properties of the special theory of relativity and its deep philosophical implications, the bizzare and dazzling predictions of the general theory of relativity: the curvature of spacetime, the exotic characteristics of black holes, the bewildering prospects of gravitational waves, the discovery of astronomical objects as quasers and pulsers, the expansion and the (possible) recontraction of the universe..., are all breathtaking phenomena. In this paper, we give a philosophical non-technical treatment of both the special and the general theory of relativity together with an exposition of some of the latest physical theories. We then give an outline of an axiomatic approach to relativity theories due to Andreka and Nemeti that throws light on the logical structure of both theories. This is followed by an exposition of some of the bewildering results established by Andreka and Nemeti concerning the foundations of mathematics using the notion of relativistic computers. We next give a survey on the meaning and philosophical implications of the the quantum theory and end the paper by an imaginary debate between Einstein and Neils Bohr reflecting both Einstein's and Bohr's philosophical views on the quantum world. The paper is written in a somewhat untraditional manner; there are too many footnotes. In order not to burden the reader with all the details, we have collected the more advanced material the footnotes. We think that this makes the paper easier to read and simpler to follow. The paper in full is adressed more to experts.Comment: 40 pages, LaTeX-fil

Economic Theory in the Mathematical Mode

Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 8, 1983general equilibrium;

Ambiguity and macroeconomics:a rationale for price stickiness

This paper deals with the emergence of price stickiness, that is nominal price elasticity below one, in the wake of nominal shocks. The setting of analysis is a general equilibrium model with both ambiguity and rational expectations. Ambiguity and macroeconomics are linked exploiting a micro-founded framework. Ambiguity concerns the lack of knowledge of firms about the relationship between changes in the aggregated stock of money and in the money distribution across heterogeneous consumers in the economy. Ambiguity is represented through a multiple priors approach. It is shown that price stickiness can emerge even if a change in the money supply level does not alter the distribution of money across consumers (uniform monetary policy). The key assumption made in the paper is that attitude towards ambiguity of firms is asymmetric: ambiguity aversion towards uncertain positive outcomes (gains) and ambiguity seeking towards negative outcomes (losses). By focusing on the dynamics of beliefs following a change in the stock of money that does not alter the money distribution, it is shown that money neutrality remains true in the long runAmbiguity, multiple priors, incomplete information, price stickiness